Bleaching problem

[shaggy14]

ok, I have a problem with my hard corals bleaching. It seems like no matter where i put them or how i adapt them to the light they always lose most of their color. Ihave only had 2 sps die, one was a very finicky acro that i probably wasnt ready for at the time, the other got taken down bysome cyano from too little flow on it.
i am running 2x250 halides approx 12-14in above my 50g. any suggestions?
tanks parameters as of a week or 2 ago:
Ph 8.3
temp 74-78
ammonnia- 0
nitrites- 0
nitrates- 10-15ppm ( cannot get any lower for some reason, added a fuge and a skimmer, lessened feedings, just kinda stuck here.lol or my tests kit is innaccurate)
dkh 9
calcium 500

[iriejp1]

I have the same problem with the Nitrates. Might be time to start vodka dosing!

[Mykel Obvious]

I don't see results for PO4 or Magnesium... If you have high nitrates and high Phosphate, that could be a large part of the problem

Also, your temp is a bit low in my opinion... I'm running my tank 81F-84F and I just read that low 70's can be lethal to corals (and my guess is Acros are more sensitive to this) if your thermometer is reading a few degrees higher than the actual temp, that could be part of the problem as well (cheap thermometers are notorious for being off)

Cyano won't grow on a healthy coral, so my guess is it was already on the way out by that time...

A few other questions come to mind:
How old is the tank?
How much flow and what type?
Any parasites? (Red Bugs, Nudis etc,)
What fish and how many?
What corals?
Algae problems?

Photos might help us see something about your system as well

[shaggy14]

I had an issue with p04 one time, got that nasty red slime. took it out quickly though. never had an issue with it or algae since. i do dose with essential elements every 3 or 4 wc, and strontium and molybdenum every now and then. the temp used to be around 78 or so, but after adding the halides during the summer i was getting worried cause the temp would get up to 81. thought it would be worse to get too hot than a little cool.
the BN that got eaten by cyano had become bleached also, then i noticed amphipods on it at night, then no more PE, then cyano and dead.
The tank itself is only about 5 months old, but is the result of my 125g starting to leak. so all rock, half the water, and most of the livestock is from the 125 which was started about a year ago.
For flow i have a koralia 4, 2 modded MJ( one 400 and one 1200), a 550 gph pump on my skimmer, and a 190 or something close on my fuge.
No parasites I am aware of
Fish:
royal dottyback, yellow tang, cinnamon clown(with LTA), green barred goby, orange diamond goby (both gobies are very small), lawnmower blenny, and 2 firefish round off the fish.
inverts:
sally lightfoot crab, porcelain crab (also with LTA), green emerald crab, a few hermits ( dont like hermits myself, they kept knocking over my corals), between 60-80 various snails from turbos, ceriths, etc., hawaiian feather duster, one LTA
softies:
3 headed frogspawn, colt coral, kenya tree, and bubble coral
zoas and palys:
12 medium colonies of various zoas, one very large colony, 2 small paly colonies, clove polyps, and one green ric.

thats about it for now. ill try and get pics when i charge up the camera.

[shaggy14]

ttt

[crashrat]

How old are the bulbs?

[shaggy14]

a month or two tops

[Mykel Obvious]

Right now all I really see is the temp and the nitrates... bump up to 80F and do some water changes to help get the nitrates down and try again with something considered "easier" like Montipora digitata (I've been told there are no "easy" SPS, just sensitive and even more sensitive SPS)

I'm not sure if colt or kenya are trouble with SPS (mostly hear about leather being bad) but if you aren't already, it wouldn't hurt to run GAC to help prevent any allelopathy from causing troubles with SPS

More flow wouldn't be bad either... I've got a VorTech MP40w on full reef crest random and 2 modded Tunze Nanostream 6025s (about 1000 gph each after mod) in my 36"x18"x24" 65 gallon and I want to swap out the 6025s for another MP40w to get more flow... so I'm running from 45x to 75x turnover depending on where the VorTech is at in the cycle from 1000 gph to 3000 gph...

You might also look at carbon dosing as iriejp1 mentioned... hobby test kits are notoriously bad for PO4 testing, so even if you read 0 you might have a "high" level (NSW readings are usually .005 ppm) for our tanks anything over .03 ppm is considered high

HTH

[shaggy14]

i was thinking about vodka dosing. picked up a syringe from work last night that measures in tenths of a milliliter. just waiting for my new test kits to come in so i can get an accurate log. i will bump up th etemp to around 80ish. what is too hot for a mixed reef?

[psteeleb]

Mykel s giving you some grreat advice there.

try some carbon (GAC) to deal with the chemical warfare you are going to get with the softies. If you want to try another sps, go for a poccilopora or stylopora as in my experience they seem to like dirtier water then your acros. and monte's in my experience can be sensitive to Mg levels being off.

Personally I'd hold off on carbon dosing but that's just me, as I know a lot of people have great success with it. I would try other means to reduce nitrates like a remote DSB, macro algae, water changes, less food, more (dense) rock, etc.

I am convinced that the best solution to nitrates is providing enough dense area to allow for the anaerobic bacteria to thrive and deal with them to complete the entire ammonia cycle.

[Mykel Obvious]

Temp wise, I run 81F to 84F regularly and occasionally see 85-86F in the hottest part of summer... no worries in my mixed reef (and there is a "growth zone" at around 84F in wild corals, so the same can be expected in an aquarium all other things being as equal as possible)

Here's some info on temp and salinity swings on the reef:
http://www.reefland.com/rho/1105/reefc7.php

And I agree with psteeleb, wait on starting carbon dosing until the temp and water changes have time to take effect... too many changes at once can cause more troubles until parameters restabilize

[yankee26th]

O.K. This may sound funny but what type of lights are you running. If you are using DE bulbs without a glass cover for them you may be burning your corals. DE bulbs offer no form of UV protection. Thats why when using DE Bulbs you must use a glass cover between the bulbs and your corals. Its the same principal as when we go to the beach or lay out by a pool without sunscreen ( UV ) protection, we burn.
Most SE Bulbs are coated from the factory with a UV protectant. This protectant protects corals from burning, ( bleaching ), so a glass cover is really not necessary.

I hope this helps

[shaggy14]

im running a hamilton ballast with a pfo pendant on one, and an unknown ballast and a lumenarc9 or lumenmax) 3.... it hink. not sure on the last reflector as i bought in on here and forgot the brand. both pendants have uv glass though. 2 days ago i started my vodka dosing. on the 50 gal, with hob fuge and hob skimmer i started with .15ml. nitrates the first day were 10ppm. when i got home from work my fish seemed more active and i had much better polyp extension on my BN. I then re-added my heater back to the tank. temp is steady at 78 right now. today i dosed another .15 of vodka. fish are still active, and BN is getting a little color back, but i also changed up my lighting. i turn on the left 250 first for a couple hours, then add the right 250 to it for 4 hours, then turn the left off for the last 2 hours or so. so far everything seems to be going smoothly. ill test nitrates again tomorrow before my next vodka dose. ill keep you guys updated on the progress as i notice it.